Skip-hoist system



May 29, 1928. 1,671,215

w. P. ALEXANDER SKIP HOIST SYSTEM Filed Oct. 13, 1924 W/r/vEss: I l/VVEA/TOI? WW M/Mm RA/emn 049 M BY Patented May 29, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM PAILEXANDEE, or MEB-OHANTVILLE, NEw JERSEY, A ssIGNoR To B. H. BEAUMONT COMPANY, me, on PHILADELPHIA, PENNsYLvANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

SKIP-I-IOIST SYSTEM.

Application filed October 13, 1924'. Serial No. 743,278.

' Objects of the present invention are to provide for the simultaneous operation of the buckets of two skip hoists from a single driving unit for both skip hoists; to economically apply the power; to simultaneously operate the buckets of two skip hoists, one from a low to an intermediate level, and the other from the intermediate level to a high level with economy in both installation or structure and' power application; to increase the capacity, if desired, byincreasein the number of trips without undue increase in cable speed and without additional bucket capacity; to accomplish any "or all. of the foregoing objects while retaining'the advantages due to counterweighting or balancing the ascending and descending buckets and cables; and to provide a skip hoist system economical both in respect to installation costand operating expense'aud adapted to lift, for example, coal from a comparatively shallow pit to some storage or processing plant or station supported substantially at the ground level which is the intermediate level and to further lift material from the plant or processing station to a high level for distribution or use.

The invention comprises the improve ments to be presently described'and finally claimed.

In the following description reference will be made to the single figure in the drawings which is a diagrammatic or schematic illustration of one embodiment of the invention selected from other embodiments for the sake of explanation.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawing is well adapted for receiving coal, delivering it to and from a crusher plant, and lifting the powdered or pulverized coal for distribution or use, but it must be borne in mind that the invention is by no means confined or limited to that application of it. However, in order that the invention may be understood it will be described in connection with the embodiment of it shown on the drawings.

In the drawings 1 and 2 generally indicate two skip hoists. The travel of one of them is greater than the travel of the other of them. invention chosen for illustration ithappens that the travel of the skip hoist 1 is sub- In the embodiment of the stantially orapproximately twice the travel of the skip hoist 2, so that the travel of one skip hoist is substantially a multiple of the distance of the travel of the other but that condition need only obtain where use is made of a movable pulley 8 attached to the bucket 4 of the skip hoist 2 and through which the cable 5 fast at one end 6 and passed over a pulley 7, is reeved. The other end of the cable 5 applied to the single driving unit 8 shown as having in the particular embodiment of the invention chosen for descriptionbut not necessarily in all cases, a single drum 9. The cable 10 of the skip hoist 1 in the present embodiment is.

shown as applied to the drum 9, passed over thepulley 11, and connected with the bucket 12 of the skip hoist 1. The cables 5 and 10 are so applied to the driving unit that as one is let out the other is drawn in so that when one bucket is descending the other bucket is ascending. In the particular embodiment of the invention selected for description, 13 is a track hopper having a loader 14 which supplies material to the bucket 4. amay be regarded as indicating a railway car arranged to dump into the hopper 13. In general 15 indicates equipment of some kind and including means for receiving material from the skip hoist 2 and transferring it to the bucket of the skip hoist 1. As indicated this equipment includes a hopper and chute 16, a hopper and crusher 17, and a hopper and loader 18, so that as described the embodiment of the invention chosen is adapted to receive coal at a low level, to crush or pulverize the coal at an intermediate level, and to deliver it at a high level, for example, to a conveyor 19, by which the powdered or pulverized coal is delivered for subsequent use, for example, into bins or receptacles 20.

The installation of equipment embodying Weighting the bucket 4, and this may be done by adding weight 21 to it or by proportioning the capaclty of the buckets with respect to the weight per unit of volume of the lnaterials liandled by each. The unba 1 ancing ofthe buckets may in part be due'to the fact that a portion of the weight of the cable 5 is carried by the fixed support Again it is possible while operating within appropriate cable speeds and with buckets of the same capacity to increase the number of trips fro nthe lowest to the'highest po nts,

handled between those points, and this is in comparison with a single skip hoist operat, ing between the highest and the lowest point. The movable block 3 is shown as comprising a single pulley but of course it may comprise more than a single pulley in whioh case additional pulleys will be provided at T. This requires no illustration or further deseription because it, will be readily understoodhby those skilled in the art that the n ovable block 3 may be a single'or multiple block. The ratio betweenthe distances traveled by the buckets will be changed by theemployment of, movable blocks having difierent numbers of pulleys, a i

It will lee obvious to those skilled in the art to Which the invenhion relates that modi; iications may be made in matters of mere :lorni and in construction and arrangement without departing from the spirit of the invention which is not limited as to those matters or otherwise than as the prior art and the appended claims may require.

Ielaimf I 1. A system of the class described including acrushing plant located substantially at the ground level, a pit provided in the bunker provisions thus increas ng the volume of the material,

ground and having arranged therein a track hopper and'loader, the described location of the plant limiting'the depth of the pit to the depth required by the hopper and loader,

ground level and crushing "plant, the described location of the crushiiig plant minimizing the height of the bunker provisions, an dtwo skip hoist neehanisms of which one is operative between the pit and the feed level required by the crushing plant and of whichithe other is operative between the charge level oi the crushing plant and the bunker provisions, whereby the drop in level at, the crushing plant is excluded from the depth of the pit and the height or the bunk} erprovisions,

2. A syste i of the class described includ ing a crushing plant located substantially at,

e gr und ev l a P t P o ide i l i ground and having arranged therein track,

hopper andloadenthe described location of the plant limiting the depth of the pit to, the,

arranged above the i depth required hythe hopper and loads/1,,

bunker provisions arranged above ground level and crush ng plant thedev scribedlocatlon olthe crushlng plant lnlIllmizing the height the bunker provisions,

two skip hoist mechanisms of which, one is operative betweenthe pit and aer te level required bythecrushing plant and pr which the otheris operative between the discha'rge level of the crushing plant and the bunker provisions, whereby the drop inlevel atthe, crushing plant is excluded from the depth i the pit and th e height of the bunker pro;

visions, and a single powermechanism for, simultaneously operating both 'o li the sklp hoistmeohanisnis. j i i i WM. P. ALEXANDER, 

